Method of lasting.



. i [UNITED STATES PATENT F -T all whom it may concern:

' factors of shoes of other types. This applithe upper is secured to an inner-sole by a ARTHUR L. nussnnn, or HYDE rsnn, MAssAoHUsn'nrs, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY} OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Original applicaticnfiled number 5, 1910, Serial No. 585,431. Divided and this a 1915. Seria1No.30,6G1.

Be it known that I, ARTHUR L. BussELL, a citizen of the'United States, res ding at Hyde Park in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have inventedcertain Improvementsin Methods of Lasting, of Which the following description, in con nection With the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in" the several figures.

The general ob ect of the present nven tion 13 an lmprovement 1n methods of making boots and shoes, the invention being herein shown as employed in .the manufac ture of shoes of the Welt type although it will be apparent that the invention in some of its aspects is also applicable to the manucation is a division of application Serial No. 585,431, filed Oct. 5, 1910, for machines for use in the manufacture of shoes, upon which United States Letters Patent No. 1,163,597 Were granted Dec. 7,1915.

' According to the usual-practice'in last ing the sides of shoesa portion of an upper is stretched over a last and-that portion of fastening inserted through it into the inner sole "with a minimum of loss of the tension on the stretched portion of the upper. In

one aspect the present invention 'contem- ,L.

plates overworlring two laterally adjacent portions of an upper and fastening the, portion of upper which is located between such portions. The laterally adjacent portions acted upon in over-working the upper may be stretched to any desired extent and they will transmit a less degree of tension to the portion located between them. It the more moderately tensioned portion of upper is then fastened and the more highly tensioned portions are thereafter allowed to react the latter portions, assuming them to be located a suitable distance apart, will retain a degree of tension approximating that oi the lastened portion and a lasted shoe will be pro-- duced having adjacent portions of its upper under approximately the same tension. This method produces shoes which are connlort able because the uniformly tensioned condimn'rnon or Lhstrme.

application filed May 26,

. tioniof the 'difierent portions of thd upper allows the shoe to conform, to the shtipe of the wearerls foot as a shoe cannot/do if portionsof the upper have been tastened as heretofore under maximum lasting tension, although intermediate portions of the up-' per may be comparatively loose. v

In another of its aspects the invention comprises working an upper over a last at laterally adjacent points and fastening the upper at an intermediate point in lasted relation to an inner-sole lip by a staple driven through the upper and lip transversely of the lip. In this aspect the method of this invention is animprovement upon a method invented byJames Gavanagh and claimed in application Serial No. 862,211, filed-September 17, 1914, upon which United States Letters' Patent.No. 1,163,596 were granted Dec. 7,1915, which comprises working successive portions of an upper over a last by repeated operations and securing each portion of upper as it is overworked to the lip of an inner-sole by driving a staple through the upper and lip in a direction transverse to the lip. I The improvement over that proc ess which consists in locating a staple fastening in the more. moderately tensioned portion ofthe'upper between the points at which maximum tension is applied has the advantage that it makes possible the fastening of the upper With adequate security by the use of a staple of finer wire than that which would be required to hold the upper at a point of maximum tension. This is i1nportant because it renders practicable the lasting and staple fastening of Work from which the staples would pull out if they were inserted at points subjected to maximum lasting tension. The use of finer Wire staples made possible by this invention is also important because it reduces the dangeiof damage to the shoe or injury to the machines it the staples are encountered by the operating tools of the Welter and the in seam triinl'uer. An advantageous manner or practising the nev method is to overwork a portion or the upper by rubbing it up the side oi? last and across the edge of the last and then to press a laterally adjacent the innersole and fasten it and then to advance the shoe and repeat the rubbing, pressing and fastening for progressively lasting the shoe. This invention is of particular utility in lasting thesides of shoes.

The invention'will more clearly appear from the following description which sets forth how it may be practised with the aid of the form of apparatus which, is shown and described in the said Batent No.

Having reference now to the accompany- I ing drawings which illustrate an advantageous manner of carrying out the lnvention,

Figure l'is a plan view of the bottom face of the fore part of a pulled over shoe one side of which is partially lasted according to the method of this invention; I

Fig. 2 shows in vertical section through the shoe two successive positions assumed during the lasting and fastening operationby the work relatively to an illustrative example of lasting and fastening instrumentalities';

Fig. 3 shows in section the preferred location. of the fastenings with relation tothe subsequently applied welt and to the plane in which the inseam trimmer cuts off the surplus stock-after welt'ing and preparatory to sole laying. The improvements in methods of making shoes which constitutes the present invention will be described in detail. It will be understood, however, that the various means employed may vary. widely and that the order and nature of the steps of the method described may be modified somewhat without departing from the invention. V

In accordance w'ith. the illustrated mode of practising the invention, which is now to be described with especial reference to its use inthe manufacture of welt shoes, an

-- innersole 2 is provided with an upstanding lip or rib 3 and a feather 4 into the angle of union between which it is usual to force the upper during the lasting operation.- The innersole is attached to the bottom of a last 6 and the upper materials are assembled and the shoe pulled over and secured in pulled over position by tacks, all as illustrated in Fig. 1. The shoe is then side lasted and the upper simultaneously fastened progressively as the lasting proceeds, usually from the shank toward the toe. The lasting and fastening operation may if desired be continued around the toe of the shoe, although it is usual to perform thetoe lasting by a different process'and .to bind it in lasted position by a wire because of the bulky nature of the toe portion of the upper and the curvatureof the last edge over which the toe portion ofthe upper must be'worked and secured. After the shoe is side lasted according to the present method it may be end lasted in the usual way and the upper and;

vin the way described.

In carr ing out the invention I work .a' I

portion o the upper over the last and then press a laterally adjacent portion of the margin of the upper over the innersole and fasten it and then advance the shoe and repeat the operation for progressively lasting the shoe. I preferably overwork two laterally adjacent 'portionsof the'upper and while holding said portions under tension press the more moderately tensioned portion of upper locatedgbetween them into close contact with the lip of the innersole and permanently unite the upper and the.

lip by inserting therethrough and clenching a staple of fine wire. I then allow the more highly tensioned portions of the upper to react. This invention may be practised with the aid of hand tools'but 1 preferably employ an organized machine especially constructed to facilitate the lasting of the upper and the insertion of appropriate staples Such a machine is disclosed in said Patent No. 1,163,597, and

in the use of that machine two laterally adjacent portions of the upper are tensioned up the sideof the last by two continuously running friction lasting belts 10, 10, moving upwardly and mounted to yield under pressure of the side of the shoe against them until the shoe reaches a position to engage two otherlasting devices which are marked 65,

65 on the drawing and are located between the belts. The shoe can be rolled from the first position to the second position of Fig. 2 to cause the lasting belts to draw said'por tions of theupper over the edge of the last and hold them under tension. The upper is. Y forced inwardly over the feather and'against the lip of the innersole by pressure of the shoe laterally against the lasting devices'65 and the stationary lasting member which engages the upper between the devices 65 as shown best in Fig. 1; It; is obvious that the portion of upper located between the lasting devices 10,65 and '65, 10 will be more moderately tensioned than the portions acted upon .by said devices. It is this more moderately tensioned portion of the upper.

which is acted upon by the memberlOO which is a stationary lasting devicein that by pressure of the shoe against it the more moderately tensioned portion of the upper .is forced into lasted position. Said member l( )0 is also the nose of the stapling mechanism and through it the driver 106 operates insert a staple transversely of the channel lip through the upper and said lip to fasten the more moderately tensioned portion of the upper in lasted position. The channel lip is backed up1 against the actionof lasting devices 65 y I the action of the pressers 14:0 and againstdriver 106 by the staple ing the s 0e or injuring the needle and I weaken the staple by forming a nick in the bar or head portion adjacent to one or both ends of the bar. This nick is conveniently made by fins or projections 114 on the end face of the staple driver bar 106. The complete organization of this machine, includmgthe means-for .yieldingly mounting and for operating the lasting members 10, the arrangement of the lasting members 65 movable backwardly along the side edges of the staple nose 100 in response to pressure of the shoe and against yielding resistance, the connections through which said members 65 "start the stapling "mechanism during such movement vand cause the work clamps 140 and the anvil 130 to engage the shoe in time relation with the operation. of the staple driver, are all fully described and shown in the former ofthe two patents referred to and, do not require further explanation.

- After the 'side lasting andstapling operation the toe and heel of the shoeare lasted and the operation of uniting theupper, the- "innersole 'li' and-the welt by inseam stitching. isper or'med and then the inseam is trimmed. The staples are above the path of --the needle and'below the lane in which the inseam can advantageous y. be trimmed, so that they do not interfere with the operation of the welter needle or with the inseam trim- .ming operation and remain in the shoe as individual permanent fastenings. I

It-will benoted that an advantage of the method of making shoes herein described is that the fastenings are inserted in' a relativelymoderately tensioned portion of the upper laterally adjacent to a highly tensioned portion and that the highly tensioned portion is allowed to react so that the upper, is. fastened under moderate tension which is more nearly uniform at all points along the portion of the shoe which is lasted in accordance with this method than an upper'is when each highly tensioned portion of upper is fastened under'maximum tension and the more moderately tensioned adjacent portions are Iunsecu'redfby lasting fastenings. p Having thus fully describedthe invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by .Letter's Patent of theUnited States is:

.,1.="Th&t improvement in methods ofmak .ing shoes. which consists in progressively lasting vthe shoe by successive operations upplied 0 adjacent parts of the upperfone after another, each of which operations comprises stretching two laterally adjacentportions of. an upper upthe side of'a last and while continuously holding said portions under tension fastening the more moderately tensioned portion of upper locatd between said portions and then allowing the more highly tensioned portions of the upper to react.

2. That improvement in methods of mak-' ing shoes which comprises tensioning the upper at two laterally .adj acent points, pressing into lasted position and, while continuing the pressure fastening the more moderately tensioned portion of upper between said points, and then permitting the upper to react at the more highlytensioned points and repeating the-operation on successive portions of the shoe tolastand fasten the shoe progressively.

3. That improvement in methods ofmaking weltshoes which comprises drawing the upper up the-side and over the edgeof an inverted last at two laterally adjacent points and uninterruptedly 'holding the upper under tension ate-sand points while forcing into lasted, relation to the channel lip of an innersole and there fastening the more moderately tensioned portion of the upper located between said points, then' allowing the upper to react, and repeating the opera tion on successive portions 'of the shoe to last and fastenthe shoe progressively.

4. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes whichcomprises tensioning anupper at two laterally adjacent points at a time, forcing the portion of upper between said two points into the angle of union between the lip and featherof an innersole and .uniting' it to said lip by inserting through the upper and said lip an individual permanent fastening that will not interfere with the operation of the .welter needle or with the inseam trimming'operation, repeating the operation on successive portions of the shoejto last and fasten the shoe progressively, and subsequently attaching a welt to the upper and innersole, by'stitching;

'5. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which comprises workingan upper over a last at two laterally adjacent points, pressing the upper randthe channel lip of the innersole into close contact with each other between said two points, permanently uniting the upper and lip while in 1 this relation by msertlng therethrough and clenching a staple of fine wire, and then jacent points simultaneously and inserting a fastening between said points through the tion transverse to the lip.

7. That improvement in methods of making shoes which comprises working succes- 5 sive portions of an upper over a last by repeated operationsand securing each portion of the upper to the lip of an innersole as it is overworked by driving a staple through the upper and lip in .a direction transverse to the lip and'so weakening the bar of the staple that it will break readily if the needle or awl of the welt sewing machine encounters it in the welding operation. Y

8. That improvement in methods of mak ing shoes which comprises rubbing an upper up the side-0th last at two laterally adjacent points;- then pressing the margin of the upper between said points over an innersole on the last bottom and fasteningit; and then advancing the shoe and repeating the rubbing, pressing, and fastening for pro- ,';gressively lasting the-shoe.

5). That improvement in methods of mak- 25 ing-shoes which comprises rubbing a portion pf an upper up the side of a last "and across its edge; then pressing a laterally adjacent portion of the margin of the upper over an .i'nnersole on the last bottom and fastening it; and then advancing the shoe and repeating the rubbing, pressing and fastening-for progressively lasting the shoe.

10. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which comprises working a portion of the upper over a last, pressing a laterally adjacent portion of the upper and the channel lip of the innersole into closecontact. with each other, permanently uniting the upper and lip while in this rela ing a staple of fine wire, repeating the operation to last and fasten successive portions of. the shoe progressively, and thereafter uniting the innersole lip, the upper and a welt with stitches.

11. In the art of making shoes, the iming shoes which consists in tion by inserting therethrough and clenchupper and the lip of an innersole in a proremeut which consists in providing an innersole with an upstanding lip, and simultaneously side lasting the upper and stapling the upper to saidupstanding lip of the inncisole, said upper bein pulled relative to the last and the innersoi at points positioned at opposite sides of the polnt of insertion of the staple.

12. The process herein described of making shoes'vrhich consists 1n providing an innersole with an upstanding lip, attaching said innersole to a last, drawing the upper around the last, and stapling the edge por tion of the upper to the upstanding lip of the inne'rsole and simultaneously therewith side lasting'the upper by drawing it at two points positioned at the respective sides of insertion of the staple fastenin'gs.

13. The process herein described of making shoes which. consists in providing an iunersole with an upstanding lip, attaching said innersole to a last, pulling over an upper relative to the last,-and directly thereafter stapling the upperto the upstanding lip ofthe innersole and sinmltaneously with saidstapliug operation side lasting the upper by 1311 ling it over the innersoleand last at points positioned on opposite sides of the point of insertion of the staplefastening. 14-. The process herein describedof makroviding an inners ole \vithan upstanding ip, attaching said innersole toa last, pulllng over an upper relative to-the last, and directly thereafter stapling the upper to the upstanding lip of the innersole and simultaneously with said stapling operation side lasting the upper by pulling the free edges of said upper at two points over the'la'st and the innersole, the points of strain being at opposite sides of the insertion of the staple'fastening and the direction of the pull being against and over the edge of the innersole.

In testimony. whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

' ARTHUR L. RUSSELL.

Itin hereby that in Letters Patenjt. No. 1 ,2 17,070, gm-med February 20,}917, upon the application pf Arthur L; Russell, of Hyde Park, Massachusott e; for an improvement in "Methods of Lasting," an error appears in the prinqea a p ecificat'ton correetion as fbllews: Page 4, line 13, claim 7, for the word "welding read walling; and that the said Letter; Patent should he read with this,

correction therein the]. the same may eonform to the record of the case injthe tent 015.

Sigma-8W1 Sealed 24th de y of April, A. 1917.

[uAL-l CLAY" I CL 1z 1 45. -Mi"! Fame 

